UNESCO: 47 million youth in India drop out of school by 10th standard

India has 47 million youth of secondary and higher secondary school-going age dropping out of school, according to a report by the Montreal-based UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Global Education Monitoring.

Representational image. Reuters

The 47 million young men and women dropped out of school by the 10th standard, according to the 2016 report.

The enrollment in class 10 is 77 percent, but enrollment in class 11 is only 52 per cent, according to a report from the New Delhi-based Institute for Policy Research Studies (PRS).

Enrollment declined by about half between class 11 and 12 and college, said the report, although university enrollment increased, in general, since 2008-09.

The number of boys enrolled in higher education has increased 13 percent and girls 21 percent since 2012-13, IndiaSpend reported in July 2016.

An overall increase in gross enrollment ratio (GER is student enrollment as a proportion of the corresponding eligible age group in a given year) at almost every level of education in India confirms that the educational system has become more accessible. Upper primary and secondary schools' GERs saw a rise of 13 percent and 17 per cent, respectively, in 2013-14 compared to 2007-08.

Despite this increase, six million children aged 6-13 are estimated to be still out of the school system, according to a 2014 survey by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Most children drop out of school with Uttar Pradesh leading the ranking with 1.6 million out-of-school children, followed by Bihar and Rajasthan.

An 18 percent increase in the population of young people aged 15-24 between 2001 and 2011 has resulted in a comparable increase in the country's workforce, IndiaSpend reported in June 2014.

As many as 18 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds in India are unemployed, 5 percent more than the international average, estimated by the global youth unemployment rate of 2013.

“The newly-launched skill development programme courses require some minimum eligibility to enrol for training. Out of 29 programmes that are part of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (Prime Minister's Skill Development Scheme), five require individuals who have passed Grade 12 and four require educational levels higher than Grade 12,” IndiaSpend reported in November 2015.